Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 12, 2019)| Word of the Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
large-minded
| |||||||
| Article of the Day | |
|---|---|
 The OrmulumWritten in about 1180 by an Augustinian canon of Lincolnshire named Ormin, the Ormulum is a collection of homilies on the Gospels consisting of almost 19,000 lines of Middle English verse. Because Ormin uses his own system of spelling to indicate the proper pronunciation of his words, the Ormulum is invaluable to philologists studying Middle English phonology and tracing the development of English through the Norman conquests. Who is Walter, mentioned in the work’s dedication? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
|---|---|
 US Supreme Court Decides Bush v. Gore (2000)The Supreme Court's decision in this case ended Florida's statewide recount of ballots cast in the 2000 US presidential election and allowed its Secretary of State to certify Republican candidate George W. Bush as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes. Despite the fact that Democratic candidate Al Gore had won the popular vote, the decision in Florida gave Bush a majority of the Electoral College and with it the US presidency. What reason did the court cite for stopping the recount? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
|---|---|
 Frank Sinatra (1915)Sinatra was a giant of American entertainment. He began his career in the 1930s as a singer whose romantic renditions of songs like "I'll Never Smile Again" caused teenage girls, called "bobby soxers," to shriek and swoon. Later, as an actor, he starred in films such as The Manchurian Candidate, From Here to Eternity, and the original Ocean's Eleven. He became popular in Las Vegas as the leader of the Rat Pack, a group that included what other 1950s entertainers? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
|---|---|
 I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worry and only half the royalties.Agatha Christie (1890-1976) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
|---|---|
not on my watch— That will not happen while I am in charge or on the lookout. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
|---|---|
 Jamhuri Day (2022)The biggest of the national holidays in Kenya, Jamhuri is observed to commemorate the full independence of Kenya from the British in 1963. A year later, the country became a republic with Jomo Kenyatta (c. 1894-1978) as the first president. The day is celebrated nationwide but with special events in Nairobi: speeches by the president and other officials, parades, fireworks, and ngomas (dances) performed in public plazas. More... | |